Andrei Hlobistin
Art historian
SURT. FIERY LAND

"I am only a knight and a poet,

"descendant of the northern skald.


А. Blok. Encounter.



The S.P. Diaghilev Museum of Contemporary Arts of St. Petersburg State University presents the exhibition of St. Petersburg artist Denis Odinga "Surt. Fiery Land." Denis is a fervent admirer of northern nature in its connection with Scandinavian mythology. He researches sources and tracks new releases on his favorite subject, from scholarly books and journals, to the world-conquering industry of Viking TV series, blockbuster fantasy movies, and computer games. Scandinavia has always been relevant in St. Petersburg for many reasons - geographical, climatic, political and cultural-historical. At our university - on the initiative of M.I. Steblin-Kamensky, for the first time in the national higher school in 1958, a chair of Scandinavian philology was established, and the achievements of the national Scandinavistics were recognized all over the world. Neo-Normanism at the Department of Archaeology, Faculty of History, LSU-SPbSU, and at LOIA-IIMK also became an outstanding scientific phenomenon of the 1960s-1990s.
The Scandinavian theme is a little explored side of our art, unlike Scandinavia itself, where, for example, in 1998 the National Museum of Sweden in Stockholm hosted a large-scale exhibition "Scandinavia and Germany 1800-1914. Encounters and Friendship," whose cross-cutting theme was the metamorphosis of German-Scandinavian mythology in culture - from painting, music, and theater to natural sciences and industrial design.
In Russian art, the early subjects refracting Scandinavian themes include Ivan Akimov's painting "Grand Duke Svyatoslav kissing his mother and children on his return from the Danube to Kiev" (1773), in which Rurik's grandson appears as a neoclassical model of civil and family virtues popular in the Age of Enlightenment. The canvas "The First Meeting of Prince Igor with Olga" (1824) by Vasily Sazonov from the Tretyakov Gallery was probably painted under the impression of Nikolai Karamzin's "History of the Russian State", which stunned contemporaries. The state-imperial interpretation of Nordic myths caused a protest among the graduates of the Imperial Academy of Arts, who organized the "Revolt of the Fourteen", refusing to paint "Feast in Valhalla" in 1863 (the previous year, 1862, marked the thousandth anniversary of the calling of the Vikings). From pictures of significant masters of XIX century it is necessary to mention "Funeral of noble Russ" (1883) academician Henry Semiradsky. Here we can step back from painting and recall the presence of four outstanding Russian people, including Catherine the Great, in the hall of fame "Valhalla", built by the architect of the St. Petersburg New Hermitage Leo von Klenze by order of Ludwig II of Bavaria in 1842 on the banks of the Danube. Further it should be noted the favorite of the people creator of neo-Russian style Viktor Vasnetsov - the author of "Oleg's Meeting with the Wizard" (1899), "The Calling of the Varangians" (1909), "Bayan" (1910) and other paintings based on Old Russian history. A significant place is occupied by the Varangian theme of Nikolai Roerich, who graduated from our university. And finally, a milestone in the history of "orientation - North" in the twentieth century was the work of Ilya Glazunov and Konstantin Vasilyev in the 1960s - 1970s, interpreted by contemporaries as both patriotic and dissident in its own way.
Denis Odinga's work is a new turn of the Scandinavian subject in Russian art already in the XXI century. Odinga's talent was formed in the era of cultural upheaval of the turn of the 1980s - 1990s. For artists of this generation is characterized by the absence of dogmas and dynamic development of forms and means of creativity. Denis began his path in art in the famous artist squat in 1, Svechnoy Lane, where together with friends they created fluorescent paint paintings in a bright "acid" style, decorating the spaces where a previously unprecedented social life was ignited.
In the 2010s, Oding became "sick" of mythology and sagas, traveled to Norway and worked on the cycle "Midgard" ("Middle Land" - in ancient tales - the world inhabited by people). These were meditative landscapes of majestic fjords in pastel colors. But in 2020 - 2022 the artist begins to work in a completely different style on the next cycle, dedicated to the kingdom of fire - Muspelheim, ruled by the giant Surt (dr.- Scand. Surtr - black). This lord will lead the attack of hordes of fire giants across the rainbow bridge Bivröst on the city of gods Asgard during the last battle Ranarök and with his fiery sword will cut down the world tree Yggdrasil, putting an end to all existence. In Odinga's new works, the calm contemplative mood is replaced by disturbing dynamics, contrast and bright bursts of color. The exhibition presents more than two dozen works in various formats, executed by the artist on canvas and paper in the technique of oil pastel. One of the four main world elements appears at Odinga in different hypostases - a fiery Gehenna, a family hearth, something like Salamander - the spirit of fire, etc. The stylistics of the master is equally diverse: from photorealism effects to graffiti stylized as runic ornamentation and imagery close to the fantasy genre. Nevertheless, the exposition looks whole and under favorable circumstances could grow into a monumental painting of a public space, an interior, or a club.
The artist himself tells about how the theme of fire appeared in his work: "In Moscow, I worked in the studio of Misha Barkhin (a famous architect of the two capitals - A.H.). One day, I bought a gorgeous edition of "Younger Edda" (publishing house "Vita Nova") and began to reread it with pleasure. I had never paid attention to Surt before. He was somehow always in the shadow of Ymir, Odin, Thor, Loki and even the cow Audumla. Though in essence, Surt is the original god, and he also destroyed everything and everyone in the end. Wow, that's real power," I thought. And a week later, the workshop burned down." Surprisingly, Oding is not the first St. Petersburg artist to stir up the archetypal "Moscow fire was making noise, burning...". In the 1990s, word spread around the capital about a dashing arsonist - the artist-licedee Vladislav Mamyshev-Monro, whose most peculiar performance in this genre was the burning down of Boris Berezovsky's apartment. Artists are dangerous with their simple-minded visionary gift, but in our city, where an unconscious longing for flooding lurks in the archetype, the water element should cool down hotheads. And at that moment, as youth slang recommends, imitating something similar to Viking humor, "the main thing is 'not to steam'."